


Not Today

by kitkat9g



Category: The Walking Dead, bethyl - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Season 5 MSF spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 20:37:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4194072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkat9g/pseuds/kitkat9g
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is one of the ways I think Coda could have ended that would have been better than what actually happened. This is AU, with Carol still outside of Grady and Eugene still lying about being a scientist and having a cure.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Today

So here's my extra-special oneshot dedicated to my fellow Bethylers! Two quick notes before I get started:

This is AU (obviously lol) so:

*Carol is not at Grady

*Eugene has not revealed his secret

That's all! I hope you enjoy (one of) my personal version(s) of the ending to the Season 5 MSF.

Daryl shot up to sitting, the image of Beth lying lifeless at his feet seared into his brain. He swiped a palm across his face, which was wet with sweat and tears, as he tried to slow his loud, ragged breathing. He still sat there, breathing heavily, when a figure appeared above him. Carol sat down next to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. She'd heard him grumbling in his sleep from across the room as he tossed and turned on his pew, caught in a nightmare unknown to her. There were no barriers in the sanctuary where the majority of the group slept. Daryl turned to her, his eyes never still as he frantically searched the room. "Where is she?" Carol cupped his cheek with her hand in a desperate attempt to calm him as the sight of his face threatened to bring her to tears herself. 

"She's still at Grady. We're leaving in the morning to get her." Barely relieved, Daryl nodded and covered his face with his hands, groaning and wiping at the drying tears still covering his face. Carol kept speaking. "She's alive, Daryl. We'll get her back." He looked back up at her, fresh tears filling his eyes and spilling over.

"It felt so real. She was gone. Cold at my feet." Carol wrapped him in a hug, her nurturing and motherly instincts coming into play.

"She'll be okay. We can get her back, safe and sound. We've got the people and the weapons. We'll take care of her. And you'll be right there when we do." Daryl forced a small smile and pushed himself to lie down and close his eyes, if only to ease Carol's mind. Eventually, he heard Carol walk back over to her pew and lie down, at which point his eyes snapped back open. He spent the rest of the night thinking about Beth, the bright morning sunlight almost catching him off guard as it filled the room through the now open curtains. Daryl squinted away from the light that shone around the boards on the windows, pushing himself up on an elbow as the rest of the group woke and rose from their pew beds. Carol stood next to the window, her hand still on the drawstring of the shades. "It's time to go. We've slept long enough." Daryl saw no protest among them as everyone nodded and jumped to their feet, beginning to pack up. Daryl watched as Carol turned to Rick. "Rick, what's the plan? "Rick had been thinking on a strategy overnight, having to choose between a stealthy attack or risking a peaceful trade, for which they'd first need hostages. He had decided not to risk it. He cleared his throat, looking town at his feet and then back up to them. 

"We can't risk hoping these people will be peaceful. We go in hall by hall, taking out the guards, quietly of course. We'll do that until we find her, then we get out of there, quick." Daryl nodded, relieved that Rick hadn't chosen the trade. A gut feeling was telling him that it wouldn't have worked. He sighed and grabbed his crossbow from beside him. 

"How soon can we leave?" Rick walked over, clapping a reassuring hand to Daryl's shoulder.

"As soon as everything is ready to go. It won't be long. We're already almost ready." Daryl nodded and proceeded to help Sasha load up the rifles and distribute knives to everyone. He reached down to his own knife, the one Beth had held not all that long ago. She had held it out in front of her as they sat, confined in the trunk of that old car, her fear written clearly on her face. He had done his best to silently comfort her, not to much avail. The same knife she'd carried with her until the funeral home; until she'd been taken from him so suddenly.

Sasha cleared her throat, snapping him out of his daze. "We're ready." He nodded once again and hoisted the duffel bag of guns over his shoulder before following Rick out he door. Michonne had elected to go with, insisting she'd be needed because she could take people out quietly with the katana. Rick had agreed, and, still untrusting of Gabriel with his children, asked Carol to stay back instead. 

"Sure. Be careful." Goodbyes were said and the group headed out on foot, having no vehicle to travel in due to the church bus being with Abraham and the D.C. group. Though Grady wasnt far from the church, they hoped to find a large vehicle to stash for a quicker getaway. Even so, on the six-mile walk to Grady, they didn't find any useful vehicles to get them out safely and quickly. They most likely wouldn't need to kill everyone, so they'd need to be safe and fast getting out. 

Minutes felt like hours as they approached the entrance to Atlanta, the hospital already in their view. Time slowed even more as they took out the first guards, using their silenced rifles, not wanting to get close enough to be seen. The two heavily-armed policemen fell with a quiet thud, cueing the group's opportunity. Noah latched on to the fence, wrenching it open far enough for each person to slide through, before enterng himself as Tyreese held the fence from the inside.

"Okay." He said, catching his breath as he slowed to a stop, the group having gotten ahead of him and Tyreese. His nerves began to take control of him at the sight of the hospital, again so close. Inside once again. He thought as he followed Daryl closely. They were breaking into the groups they'd agreed on ahead of time. Each group would check a hall and every room until Beth was found or everyone in Grady was dead. "I think I might know where she could be this time of day, but she's probably hanging with the doctor." Daryl nodded.

"We'll take him out then, and get her back. Like we planned." Noah hesitated, but followed, showing unspoken agreement. He'd liked Dr. Edwards most of everyone at Grady, though he still wasn't great. He lied, tricked, and had even killed, just to save himself. 

Noah snapped back to attention as the door opened by Daryl's hand, glinting against the sun. He'd thought it strange at first that they were there during the day, but the more he thought about it, the timing made sense. While they might have more of a chance of being caught during the day, they themselves needed to see, and walkers were more dangerous at night. If anything had happened to Beth, they'd need to be able to get her safely back to the church without having to worry about rotters that they couldn't even see. Enough of that, Noah. He thought as he turned into a doorway, silenced gun drawn. No more thinking about that, it's distracting you. Focus. His room, what was once the front office, was empty. Daryl also came up with nothing, and they continued on. As they passed the help desk, they again found no one. The center of the first level was a circular room with the desk in the center. Six halls branched out from the lobby, one in every direction, and a group approached from each, Daryl and Noah lowering their weapons as they recognized the faces on the heads that shook slowly as they got closer. 

"No one?" Daryl's voice was a whisper as he questioned the others and the leader of each pair shook their head "That's weird. Be ready. I think they've figured out that we're here." Michonne's eyes widened sligtly in surprise and worry as the plan seemingly began to fall apart. A slight creak caught Daryl's attention as the others continued to talk quietly, leaving him to be the only person to notice it. Silently, he loaded and raised his bow, training his aim on the doors in the corner of the room as the others caught on and followed his lead, ready to fire at once. The double-doors to the stairwell opened slowly, already not what they'd been expecting. All eyes (and weapons) were on the now open doors, but weapons dropped immediately as a familiar face appeared. . . alone. 

"Beth!" Daryl whispered excitedly, almost too loud as he ran to her, slinging his crossbow across his back along the way. Beth grinned, tears flooding her eyes as she was lifted off the ground and pulled into Daryl's chest. He felt her tears soaking through his shirt as he pulled her face upward so he could finally do what he'd wanted to all along. His fingers under her chin, he pressed his lips to hers. She smiled into the kiss and kissed him back more forcefully than he'd kissed her, but he played into it gladly. They were cut short though, when Beth snapped back to her senses suddenly.

"We need to go. I snuck out and they'll be finding out soon enough." As if on cue, a shout from the floor above validated Beth's statement, and heavy footsteps followed, pounding across the floor and toward the stairs. Daryl turned, grabbing Beth's hand and bolting out the way they'd come, followed by the group. More shouting, closer this time, ensued as the stairwell doors slammed against the walls and closed again. The troop of survivors made it ouside the building and spread out, ready for a fight, yet still running as a number of cops chased after them. A shot rang out, splitting everyone's ears, but the bullet never ricocheted. It seemed to have found a mark. A small whimper escaped Beth's lips as she stumbled and fell, blood seeping through her jeans, just above her knee, where a hole had been torn in her pants by the bullet. 

No No No No NO! consumed Daryl's thoughts as he whirled around, gunfire continuing around them. He felt a bullet graze his shoulder as he knelt down, lifting Beth off of the ground and continuing to run, a thin line of his own blood sliding down his arm and mixing with Beth's at her knee. She held onto him tightly, her arms around his neck as he carried her bridal-style. When they reached the fence to go back out, Tyreese immediately pulled pulled it back to let everyone slide through. Daryl and Beth went first, in a hurry to remove Beth from danger. Daryl sat her down by the opening and crawled through, helping her when he was clear. When she was also out, the rest of the group followed. Once everyone made it through, they made a break for the road. They were cut off by a blood-splattered fire engine parked in the middle of the road, with Maggie, Abraham, Tara, Eugene, and Glenn all crammed inside, and Rosita hanging on the side. Spotting the group, Glenn leaned out the window and motioned for them to hang onto the side of the truck , as he, Maggie, and Tara hopped out and did the same, making room for Beth to lie down. Daryl helped her slide feet-first into the back seat and took his place outside the truck by the open window next to her head. He ran his hand across her forehead, brushing the hair away again and again. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her quick and ragged breathing. Eugene leaned back from the front seat, a belt in his hand. He tied it above beth's knee, cutting off the blood flow and creating a tournicate, to stop her from bleeding so much. She looked at him with barely a hint of fear in her eyes.

"Thank you." She closed her eyes agian as Eugene nodded in response and turned back around to Abraham. 

"How long?" Abraham's voice was firm, yet rushed as he responded, his eyes never leaving the road. 

"Not long. Five minutes, maybe." He had been white-knuckling the steering wheel all day. They'd run into a problem on their trip o D.C. A 'walker farm' as Tara had called it. Glenn had called it for the time being and Abraham wasn't happy. He seeme to be the only one feeling that way about the situation, though. Eugene had seemed almost. . . relieved to turn around, and no one else was too glad about having to make the long trip with no progress (just to turn back), until they'd gotten to the church and been informed of Beth's whereabouts. They were eager to save her; even Rosita, who didn't know the girl. Abraham assumed it was just their nature and had reluctantly agreed to drive the fire engine to Grady and back, still mulling over alternate routes to Washington. Eventually, his senses cut off to what was happening around him as he took a nosedive into deep thought. He could see Eugene in his peripheral vision, shifting uneasily in the passenger seat, and hear Daryl muttering something to Beth, and her short, hushed, and broken responses, but is brain registered none of it. He narrowly avoided the sign for the church as he swerved around it when a shout from Daryl threw him from his trance. 

"What the hell are ya doin', Abraham?!" The trucks tires threw gravel as they skidded to a stop in front of the church. Immediately, Daryl pulled Beth from the vehicle and carried her to the open doors of the church as Carol gave orders to set up to help her. Everyone was on their toes; grabbing towels/cloth, getting water, and bringing any and all medical supplies that could be found. As Carol instructed him, Daryl gently laid Beth down on a blanked on the floor, where her wound was immediately examined. Daryl listened carefully as Carol thought out loud. 

"It's deep, but not quite to the bone. I think I can get at it with some tweezers." She turned to find some, but Daryl was quicker, already pulling them from the box next to her. She took them, dipped them in alcohol, and handed Beth a large piece of wadded-up clean clothing. "Okay, Beth, honey. Bite down on this. I'm gonna try to get the bullet out." She looked up at Daryl, who sat by Beth, her head in his lap. He looked back at her, visibly nervous. "You and Maggie hold her down. Rick's here to jump in if we need him to, but she knows you two best and seems most comfortable with you." She gestered with a nod to Rick as she said his name, and he nodded, placing a kind hand on Beth's arm to reassure her of his presence. She smiled at him weakly ad nooded to Carol, saying shakily,

"I'm ready when you are. Let's get this over with." Daryl moved to her legs and held each down with an arm as Maggie took his spot and held her arms across her chest, allowing Beth to first take the ball of material in her mouth. When everyone was situated and ready, Beth nodded again and Carol began counting.

"Alright. On three. One. . . two. . . three!" On three, as she'd said, Carol stuck the alcohol-sterilized tweezers carefully into the bullet-hole in Beth's left thigh. Beth let out a loud, but muffled scream from behind the fabric between her teeth, and started to writhe in pain under Daryl and Maggie's hold. Rick scooted closer, placing his hands around Beth's small waist, and pinning her hips to the ground, which allowed Carol to work more easily without the extra movement. As the white-hot burning of metal on raw, torn flesh became ongoing for Beth, she gritted her teeth, having spit out the cloth, and refused to let herself scream any more. She allowed herself grunts and groans, but she couldn't scream. It was too loud, even with something to muffle it. She had a harder time, though, constraining herself from squirming in pain while Carol dug for the bullet, which, after fifteen minutes (which felt like weeks to Beth) came out in one piece. "Got it! It's not broken, so we've just gotta cauderize the wound and close it up." She looked at Beth, who nodded in apparent approval of the plan. Then, she carefully reached for a small, iron bar, she'd had heating in the fire. The tip was now bright red, but not soft. She spoke once more to Beth. "Do you want me to count again?"

"Nope. Just do it." Carol nodded and pressed the bar around the edges of the wound, and in spots inside it that bled heavily, even with Eugene's belt tied around her leg. Again Beth writhed, but only groaned. Minutes continued to drag as the bar was removed and Carol began stitching the wound closed, at which point Maggie, Daryl, and Rick could let go. The worst was over and Beth didn't so much as flinch at the needle entering her skin over and over. Carol finished closing the hole and wrapped a clean bandage around Beth's thigh, securing it with tape. Beth smiled, relieved to be alive and done being dug into, burned, and sewn. Carol slowly removed Eugene's belt and Beth's entire leg tingled as more blood rushed into it, an oddly relieving feeling. Carol watched closely for any excessive bleeding to soak the bandage, but when there was none, she let Beth rest. "Thanks, Carol." Carol smiled and squeezed Beth's hand. 

"Don't mention it. I'm glad you're safe." Beth genuinely smiled and felt her eyelids getting heavy, exhaustion overtaking the adrenaline she'd had pulsing through her veins. Carol saw this and covered her up, quietly stepping out into the churchyard with the rest of the group, leaving Maggie with her sister for a while. Daryl followed her out and nodded to the quizzical, concerned faces of all but one. Abraham stood, brushing some of the dust from his clothing. 

"Alright then. My group can get back on the road to D.C. A.S.A.P. Where's Maggie?" He stood to go into the church. Before he'd taken even three steps, Daryl blocked his path. 

"She's with her sister. And that's where she'll stay until she's ready to leave." Abraham let out an angry, gutteral growl as he took a step closer to Daryl, clearly sizing up his opponent.

"You best get outta my way, boy. Or we're gonna have a problem." Daryl stood his ground and growled back.

"I think we already do." Abraham's ever-rising anger boiled over as he lunged, taking Daryl crashing to the ground with him. His hands encircled Daryl's throat, holding him down as he thrashed back at Abraham, only a few of his swings hitting their target as the edges of his vision got ever thickening, dark borders. Glenn, Rick, and Tyreese grabbed ahold of Abraham's arms and head, but not before he had straddled Daryl to pin him down, and had gotten a few good punches in. They dragged him back, allowing Daryl, bleeding from the nose and lip, to get up and catch his breath. Abraham thrashed and fought, seeing too much red to notice Daryl approaching with his bow. Splitting pain was the last thing he felt as the back end of the crossbow connected with his head and darkness consumed him. 

After tying Abraham's hands and feet, Daryl made his way back into the sanctuary, where Beth was awake again and had heard the commotion outside. 

"What's going on?" She looked up at Daryl with worried eyes as she studied his bruised and bloodied face. He smiled, a forced reassurance to her as Maggie laid a hand on his arm briefly and stepped outside. They'd been up early, and the sun hadn't even gone down yet. Maggie assumed it to be only about five in the evening. She'd left her sister with Daryl, knowing that, after that kiss at Grady (Noah spared no details), they needed to talk.

"It ain't important, but what is, is that you're home now and safe." Beth half-smiled, still a little concerned about the events outside, but decided to let them go. Daryl approached the pew she lay on, sitting down next her her as she shoved herself into an upright position.

"So, . . . about. . . um. . . the kiss. . . " Daryl cut her off, even though she really had no more to say.

"You changed my mind. And I lost it the day you were taken from me, and I --" Beth stopped Daryl's rushed and terrified explanation with her lips on his. He smiled into a kiss they now had time for. Beth barely pulled away enough to speak.

"You're gonna miss me so bad when I'm gone, Daryl Dixon. Because I will be, someday. But that day's not today." 

* * * END * * *


End file.
